Shavon takes part in an AmeriCorps-backed work-study program called Jumpstart where she pays off student loans by tutoring 10 hours a week -- two without pay -- instead of washing dishes in the cafeteria.

Shavon, who also works part time as a waitress and a sales clerk, told me she was disturbed to learn that poor, inner-city kids like James come to school with about a quarter of the vocabulary of middle-class kids in the suburbs, and that this gap ends up socking society with huge special-ed and other expenses down the road.